feeding geese

[Anonymous]

Ive had geese for 15 years, in that time ive never really fed them they graze on 2 acres and are fed bread by walkers that come down our lane, these geese have since died, and ive had 4 geese given to me ive had them for one year, ive noticed their breast bone is very prominant so ive started feeding them split maize, my question is, how do you tell if a goose is to skinny, i think they are youngish in age, and ive never wormed them {they live out all year so catching them will be difficult}

 

[Tim]

Hi ameeyal,

You are right, if there is a plentiful supply of grass, they can cope with just that, as they do in the wild. Where grass is in short supply, wheat is usually fed in a little water.

At this time of the year, it's usually hard to keep sufficient fresh grass for them with sufficient nutrient quality.

If the ground has been well used, there is a good chance they are carrying a high worm load and I would consider worming them - flubenvet is the most effective in this sort of situation, it will kill hairworms, gapeworms and all of the main stomach worms. If the ground is heavily infested, repeat treatment is a good idea = this means the worm eggs that they pick up (that re-infect them) don't reach maturity and lay more eggs. 3 weeks is a good time to leave after the first treatment but it does vary between worms and in an ideal world, you should send off a sample and get it tested so you can choose the optimum repeat treatment point.

To answer your question... which (sorry) I have not done yet! You can either examine them and look at the breast bone as you are doing, or, alternatively weigh a goose to check they are putting on weight. A hand held scale with a loop of rope around the gooses feet can give you the weight quickly. The goose will cope being upside down for a short time while you weigh him.

To catch them is another problem - I have made a small pen in the past, like you would for sheep and herded the geese into it.

 

[Anonymous]

Thankyou for the reply Tim, i will give them a worming, and carry on feeding them, how can i stop them from pecking me, can i wrap a elastic band around their beaks when i weight them?

 

[Tim]

how can i stop them from pecking me, can i wrap a elastic band around their beaks when i weight them?

Ummm can't say I know the answer to that sorry! I guess at least a two person job, one holding the head / beak!

Good luck and do pop back and let us know the outcome in the long run when they're wormed.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a thought today Ameeyl,I dont knowe if it would work on geese but,slip a baby's sock over their beak and head,tie it in place with a ribbon.
I used to use this method on an aggresive snake,worked very well.You might need a slighly bigger sock than a baby's,but worth a go.

 

[Tim]

I checked my Bible for Geese - Chris Ashtons ' Domestic Geese' and she suggests holding them under an arm with the beak end away from you, tail pointing forwards. You can then take the legs and weigh carefully.

Did you happen to see Countryfile on Sunday? I recorded it and watched it last night - they did exactly what I'm suggesting with the weighing scale - took a goose, hung it by the legs on the scale for 10 seconds or so to weigh it. These were Geese for the Christmas market but the idea is the same...

 

[Anonymous]

Um,so how do you pick it up,tuck it backwards under your arm with out being pecked?
Also,Brecon buffs are quite happy to peck your bum.....well mine.

 

[Tim]

Um,so how do you pick it up,tuck it backwards under your arm with out being pecked?
Also,Brecon buffs are quite happy to peck your bum.....well mine.

Umm :? not sure Maybe a bin lid job...

Do they peck your behind once held like this though?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Ameeyal,

We pen our geese up in a small area to catch them. They are not used to being handled, so we throw a blanket over their head and back so they can't see. This allows us capture them without too much flapping - if they can't see you they cant peck you (well not accurately anyway!) We can then pick them up/examine them. Another method is to put a plastic bucket over their head to avoid those painful lunges! A goose can do much more damage to a human with its wings than it can with its beak.

Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Um,so how do you pick it up,tuck it backwards under your arm with out being pecked?
Also,Brecon buffs are quite happy to peck your bum.....well mine.

Umm :? not sure Maybe a bin lid job...

Do they peck your behind once held like this though?

Um,never got to pick the blasted goose up ,it fought me off.......well,er,pecked me off .